Career Degrees – Why to Get Them

Career degrees can sometimes make the difference between getting that job promotion or career advancement opportunity, or losing out to someone else who does have a specific career degree. Especially during tough economic times and rising unemployment, the job market becomes highly competitive and those with career degrees often receive preferential consideration over those who have not chosen to take advantage of career degree programs. Careers without degrees typically pay considerably less than those that do have stipulations about employees having specific degrees.

This represents a practical consideration for earning a professional career degree, as you can substantially increase your earning power. Various organizations, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, post data showing that with each level of advanced education, an individual earns significantly more than those with less education. For instance, someone with a bachelor’s degree can earn twice as much as someone with only a high school diploma, over an average lifetime of full time employment. Furthermore, someone with an advanced degree, such as an MBA, Ph.D., or a professional degree, earns progressively higher wages and salaries, respectively.

Numerous colleges and universities today offer professional education in the form of certificate programs, as well as career degree programs. Busy adult learners often can enroll in online programs, allowing them to find time to earn career degrees even while they continue to work and fulfill other obligations. Online education, or e-learning, may provide you with the opportunity to find the appropriate school for your career aspirations and earn the career degree that will allow you to gain a promotion or enter an entirely new career field.

As an example, an MBA is one of the most sought after career degrees to obtain. In fact, it typically carries the designation of a “gold standard” among high caliber companies that expect only the best highly trained managerial professionals. In addition, professionals who choose to pursue an MBA career degree can choose from among dozens of specialties to make themselves even greater assets in their careers. For example, just a few MBA concentrations include the following: accounting, entrepreneurship, healthcare management, human resources, IT management, organizational management, project management, and risk management.

There are dozens of other popular certificate programs widely available in career education. Many of these also include concentrations, just like the MBA degree programs do. For example, a professional may choose to enroll in a certificate program in criminal justice and choose the forensics concentration. Other options may be an education or teaching certificate program specializing in instructional technology, or a technology certificate program concentrating on database technology.

In conclusion, choosing to pursue career degrees is advantageous in most cases. You can place yourself in a more favorable position for career advancement or new career entry, and significantly increase your earning power.

Marie is a writer for Recruiter.com covering career advice, recruitment topics, and HR issues. She has an educational background in languages and literature as well as corporate experience in Human Resources.